CLS Joins with Allies to Launch Immigration Funding Initiative

On August 16, leaders of the Connecticut bar launched an urgent new campaign to raise funds to provide expanded legal help for low-income immigrant children and families. CLS helped to design the Connecticut Lawyers for Immigration Justice campaign, and the proceeds will support our immigration advocacy and that of our partner organizations.

The campaign was announced by retired Chief Justice Chase Rogers and retired Superior Court Judge Robert Holzberg, a member of CLS' board of directors, in an article in the Hartford Courant that also featured CLS Executive Director Deborah Witkin.

Connecticut Lawyers for Immigration Justice was inspired by CLS' successful advocacy on behalf of two immigrant children who were detained and forcibly separated from their parents after they came to the United States seeking asylum. The children were detained in Connecticut, and CLS joined with Yale Law School's Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic to win their release and reunification.

But tragically, the kind of representation that CLS and Yale Law School provided in those two cases is just not available to every immigrant family in Connecticut right now.

Statewide, all three of Connecticut's full-service legal aid organizations – CLS, New Haven Legal Assistance Association (NHLAA) and Greater Hartford Legal Aid (GHLA) – have seen a significant increase in demand for immigration legal services. The fundraising campaign will send 100% of every dollar raised to CLS, NHLAA, and GHLA, to be dedicated to immigration legal services.